The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1887-12-08
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.


to work up the tobacco grown in the
State. S~
Preliminary : arrangements have
been entered into to establish large
manufactory in Phoenix, Ari., to make
sugar from sorghum. 7A7
- Grand Duke Nicholas, of Russia,
is credited with being an enthusiastic
student cf natural history, and with a
new work on the entomology of the
Caucasus. sgsa a5seo1sagI r.9. :,
"A good photograph of the seventh
moon of Saturn has been obtained by
the Messrs Henry, at the Paris obsery-
atory. The Photographic plate had
to be exposed thirty-fve minutes. This
moon is known to astronomers as
Hyperion, and was the last satellite of
Satarn to be discovered.-Mt Y Ledger.
The manufacture of solid carbonic
acid gas is said to have become a
settled industry in Berlin. 1t is put in
small cylinders and if kept under pres
sure will last some time; that is a
cylinder one and a half inches in
diameter and two inches long takes
five hours to melt away into gas.
If the statements which come from
Brazil on the subject are trustworthy.
the Freire system of inoculation against
yellow fever certainly seems to be effica-
cious. The mortality from the disease
in Rio de Janeiro is said to be ten times
as great among those who have not
been treated by DR.. Freire's method as
among persons who have been inocu-
lated.-M r. ledger. - & H.
The entire annual production OF the
cordage mills of the United States. it is
stated, is about 120, tons. valued at
about $24, 1000. 900. OF this, about 40,-
600 tons is binder twine. and the bal
ance is rope Of all sizes. from the largest
hawser down to the ordinary manila
tarred rope most used by sailors in spill
cling and repairs. Opinion.
DR.. John~Vansant, Of the United
States marine hospital at ST. Louis.
claims to be the first to have taken
photographs by the light of firefies.
He placed twelve firefies sin a. athree-
ounce bottle, covering its mouth with
fine bobinet. The average duration of
the flash of each insect was half
second, and the luminous area on the
abdomen was about one-eighth of an
inch square. The time of exposure was
fifty flashes. Science.
We learn from the Pittsburgh Iron
World that Pittsburgh steel-makers
have established agencies for the sale
of the finer grades of steel suitable for
making cutlery in Europe, India and
Australia Their sales have been SO
considerable as to practically guarantee
an established trade. Steel has been
sold in competition with English-made
steel at the same prices, and, the World
says, ''the prices, under the circum-
stances, were entirely satisfactory to
the producers. -- \
Faye, the French meteorologist,
thinks the movement of a tornado is
not ascending, as some scientists sup
pose it to be, but descending, pene-
trating the lower, layers of the atmos-
phere like corkscrew., The destruct-
i've effects Of these storms are ascribed
to the violent shock occasioned by the
collision of the descending spirals with
the ground, and the energy is not ap-
parently lessened by this contact. mas
much as it is constantly renewed from
above, and transmitted to the earth by
the rotary motion downwards. T.
ledger lsd s$ y b8a h .3se
q "A French Fuel: The plan of util-
izing coke dust by making it into bri-
quettes has been successfully adopted
by a gas company at Lyons, France.
This is accomplished by mixing each
ton of fine coke with about 200 pounds
Of coal-tar pitch and then passing
through COMPRISING machine. the
total cost is "a per ton, and the product
readily sells for $3.50 to Sc per ton.
The expense for the plant, with ca
pacity Of sixty-five tons daily, was only
S.. 5.000.-Arkansaw Traveller. a.
The barramanda proves to be
connecting link of primary rank
between the oldest surviving group
of fishes and the lowest air.
breathing animals like the frogs
and salamanders.b 1t leaves its ma
tive streams at night and sets out
on a foraging expedition after vegetable
food in the neighboring woodlands. 1t
has both lungs oand gills. 1t, can
breathe either air or water at will. or,
if it chooses, the two together. Though
covered with scales and most fish-like
lnsoutline, it presents points of ana
tomical resemblance both to sala-
manders and lizards, and is a connect
ing bond between the North American
mud fish on the one hand and the won
derful lepidosiren on the other.